Confessions Are Hard to Come By
by Slushipping
Summary: They stared at each for what it seemed like hours. "Jenny…" His gaze fell to her lips. "May I kiss you?" KylexJenny. Kyenny.


**This came out of the blue. I've always wanted a slim Kyle/Jenny/Cartman triangle story... with some Pattric on the sidelines, but... it turned into this, which had some editing here and there, yata yata. And I wanted a fight. Because I hardly write any arguments in my fics between my favorite couples. And that tends to get a tad boring, so... I decided to spice it up a bit. :D**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own South Park! It rightfully belongs to Trey&Matt!**_

* * *

><p><span>Confessions Are Hard to Come By<span>

Kyle would be lying out of his ass if he told you that he wasn't jealous of the majority of fourth grade boys giving all of their devoted attention to Jenny Simon. It was so sudden and strange. Here he was building up all of the words to say to her this fateful day when he found Clyde Donovan, Kevin Stoley, Dogpoo Petuski, Craig Tucker and Cartman—yes, Eric Cartman—crowding around her. But Jenny was modest and gently turned down their offers.

One thing Kyle noted right off the bat was that Jenny looked remarkably different in her appearance. Springtime had set its course in the Rocky Mountains, allowing everyone to wear their comfortable mid-sleeves and khaki or jean capris. Jenny quietly approached this look for the first time that day. She walked into South Park Elementary wearing a powder blue blouse and a full circle skirt that displayed her knees. Her black hair had fallen past her shoulders, its trademarked wave at the end. Comfortably snaked around her hair was a white ribbon.

And then boys took the advantage of jumping her when she least expected it. He wanted to break through the crowd and take her away from it all, but deep down, Kyle knew that wasn't the right answer. As much as the jealousy grew, he didn't want to interfere. Perhaps she liked the newfound attention from others. Though he hated being away from Jenny and not being able to protect her, Kyle respected what she wanted.

A few hours had passed and soon lunchtime was among the hungry students. To their disappointment, it was paper sack day, which meant there were all kinds of surprises in store for everyone. Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Butters were one of the first to grab themselves a table with two seats available—one that was beside Kyle, the other between Butters and Kenny. Stan and Kenny traded sandwiches as Butters tried to ask Kyle into exchanging their fruit.

When they noticed that he made no response, Stan gave him a nudge. "Dude, Butters asked you a question."

"Huh?" Kyle glanced back and forth between his friends. "Shit, sorry dudes. What did you want to trade with me, Butters?"

"I asked if you wanted to trade my apple for your banana," replied Butters chirpily.

"Oh! Sure, dude."

He tossed the buttery boy his fruit as Butters swapped out his ripe apple.

"You've been zonin' out again, Kyle. Is there anything particular on your mind?" he asked, peeling the banana.

Kyle had his eye on the entry of the cafeteria before Stan brought him back to reality.

"You're doing it again, dude."

"Sorry … Well, it's just that… you see, Jenny always has lunch with me on Fridays. She's usually on time and she's never missed a day whenever we have lunch together. I guess I'm just a little worried that I haven't seen her since Mr. Garrison dismissed us."

"Maybe she's powdering up in the bathroom," Butters suggested. "The girls are makin' her look pretty for ya!"

Kyle rested his head in his hands, thinking aloud to himself. "Nah. Jenny isn't the type to wear a lot of makeup…"

"Is she sick?" asked Kenny.

"She looked fine this morning," Stan answered, wiping away his chocolate milk mustache. "She could be having locker trouble." He glanced over to Kyle. "What's the deal with you avoiding her lately? You haven't talked to her at all this morning… ever since you saw Clyde and Cartman making moves on her, you've been acting weird."

The boy in the orange parka smirked behind his brown fluff. "I smell jealousy…"

"Well of course he's jealous, Kenny," Stan stated. "I mean, come on. Clyde I can understand, but Cartman? He's probably not attracted to Jenny at all. He's just trying to make an ass out of Kyle. It's not like he could win a chance with her after what he put her through."

"Hey, speakin' of Eric, where is he anyway?" Butters scanned the room for his best friend.

Kyle sighed, jumped out of his seat and made through the crowd. "Don't know, don't care." He looked over his shoulder and called to his friends, "I'll be right back! I need to see if she's okay."

Along the way, he accidentally brushed shoulders with his fat frienemy in the doorway.

"Hey, dude," Kyle greeted, glancing in the bigger boy's direction.

Cartman didn't bat an eyelash.

"Sup?"

There was a great big grin on his face as his eyes skimmed the leftover paper bags. He pulled one off of the chef's serving tray and went to join Stan and the others.

_That's weird,_ Kyle thought. He put his hands into his pockets and started to search for Jenny in the isolated halls._ Fat-Ass is usually the first to enter the cafeteria before anyone else… it's unlike for him to be late for lunch._ He heard laughter in the distance from some third graders who were sitting against their lockers, talking amongst themselves and picking at their food and then passed a couple of giggling girls who were in the middle of giving themselves makeovers. A couple minutes later, Kyle found himself watching the girl of his dreams browse her locker.

"Hey, Jenny."

The girl jumped in fright. She whirled around, clutching her chest. Her heart was thumping so loud that it could practically echo through the halls. Her panting shortened when she saw her favorite Jewish boy approaching her.

"Kyle!" she exclaimed, a little too excitedly. "It's good to see you, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," he replied with a curt nod. "I was wondering what was keeping you. It's Friday… have you forgotten that we have lunch together today or…?"

Jenny cleared her throat and smoothed her skirt. "Oh, I… I didn't realize, I lost track of time…"

"That's okay, no worries," he smiled. "They're serving bagged lunches today. Would you still be interested?"

He saw the hesitation in her eyes. Kyle cocked his head to the side, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that… well… Cartman was here with me earlier."

The redhead was stunned. So that was the reason why Cartman was so late!

"… He asked me out countless times," whispered Jenny. "… until I finally said yes."

What?

Yes?

_Yes?_

Was Kyle hearing her right? Did Jenny Simon say _yes_ to Cartman's offer? The boy lifted a flap, poked a finger into his ear and leaned toward her. "I'm sorry; I don't think I heard that correctly."

"We'll be meeting at Café Monet at seven," explained Jenny calmly. "I don't want you to worry. Hopefully it'll just be quick, but I hope we can enjoy oursel—"

"You're going on a date."

"Uh-huh." Jenny nodded.

"With Cartman," said Kyle flatly.

"Y-yes…"

"The notorious fat-ass."

"That's correct."

He gripped her shoulders in a flash, startling her. "May I remind you that Eric Cartman _purposely spiked your cupcakes_ and _influenced you to attempt suicide_?"

Jenny felt as though she could shrink. She had never seen Kyle so angry with her.

"Well, I just thought that—"

Kyle's eyes burned into hers.

"That's the point!" he shouted. "You _aren't_ thinking rationally about this, Jenny! Cartman's pure evil—"

She narrowed his eyebrows, suddenly growing angry with him.

"Kyle, calm down! I can give him a second chance—"

"Calm down? … I should _calm down_ when you're going on a date with that idiotic, arrogant sack of shit? Am I the only one who thinks you're not seeing the picture here? YOU _CAN'T_ GIVE HIM A SECOND CHANCE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DARE TO GIVE HIM A SECOND CHANCE? ARE YOU REALLY THAT _STUPID_?!"

"… Because I LEARNED THAT FROM _YOU_!" she yelled back. Hurtful tears seeped from Jenny's eyes, forcing Kyle to soften his expression. "I LEARN ALL OF THESE NEW MORALS AND EXPERIENCES AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO _YOU_! AND FURTHERMORE, I WAS WAITING FOR YOU TO NOTICE ME THIS MORNING! I DIDN'T EXPECT FOR GUYS TO LINE UP AND OFFER ME DATES! I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU WITH THIS NEW OUTFIT, I WANTED TO LOOK _NICE _FOR YOU! BUT SINCE YOU AVOIDED ME FOR HALF OF THE DAY, I HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH CARTMAN TONIGHT!"

Shuddering, Jenny broke away from Kyle's grasp and fled to the nearest restroom, leaving him speechless and in endless regret. All he could hear were the gossiping whispers from children who had the unfortunate experience of watching the argument and the muffled sobbing coming from behind the door to the girls' bathroom.

* * *

><p>Dinner that night at the Broflovski residence was at its usual tone—baby talk from Ike, small talk from Gerald to Sheila, and Kyle… hardly had anything to say. He sat in his chair, head between his arms, and stared down at his plate. Using her motherly instinct senses, Sheila was first to question her son.<p>

"Kyle, you've been mopin' around ever since you've gotten home," she said. "You haven't touched your food… What seems to be the problem, bubele?"

Kyle let out a heavy sigh and looked up at his parents.

"Lovesick," he confirmed. "Not the infatuated kind… the depressing kind…"

His father raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Did something happen between you and Jenny?"

"We got into an argument," said Kyle. He rested his head into his arms again. "… I was the one who started it. Now I feel terrible." His voice became hoarse and when he stared at his parents they noticed a gleam in his eye, like he could cry at any moment. "I called her stupid for agreeing to go on a date with Eric Cartman. I have never called her stupid… like, I can't even live with myself because I called her a name that I promised myself that I wouldn't call her. Sure, she's… she's really naïve, but that's part of her character, it makes her who she is, and it's special… she's beautiful… her inner and outer beauty… but I was so angry… and then she shot back at me…"

"Oh, Kyle…"

Sheila wrapped her arms around her oldest son and pulled him into a comforting hug.

"Every now and then you and your little girlfriend will be getting into arguments and misunderstandings."

"Yes, your mother's right," Gerald agreed. "Bickering actually helps couples have a growing chemistry, Kyle. It was wrong of you to call Jenny a name, and we know how much you care for her. It seems that you were in the moment of a heated discussion and therefore you were reckless with your words and actions."

Kyle leaned into his mother's side, feeling a little better about the situation.

"It would be best to apologize to her. The both of you could think it over together before you come to terms," said Sheila wisely. "And why on earth did she say yes to Eric's proposal in the first place?"

"Boys were crowding around her this morning because she was wearing a new outfit," Kyle explained. "I was growing jealous, so I decided to take my mind off of it and let her be happy with the attention. When I met up with her during lunch, and after I asked her why did she consider giving Cartman another chance, she blurted out that she didn't want to be the center of attention with these boys and that she had specifically wore new clothes to look nice for me. And since I was trying to avoid her all day, she decided to go with Cartman to Café Monet for dinner."

Gerald glanced at his watch.

"… Did Jenny say what time she was meeting Eric?" he asked curiously.

"At seven," Kyle replied. "Why?"

His father stood up from his chair and hunted the living room for his wallet.

"Go upstairs and grab your dinner jacket. We'll drive you to the restaurant; you can bring some money for your kids' dinner."

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><p>Cartman stood in front of Café Monet, wearing a thick brown tailcoat that matched his hair. He had only been there for a solid two minutes and already he was fed up with waiting. He began to pace back and forth and tap a foot on the concrete, deep in thought.<p>

"Where the hell is she?" he asked himself aloud. "If she expects me to pay for our meal, she can forget it. If it's a woman's job to keep herself in the kitchen, then her second job is to pay for her husband's meal whenever they're out…"

"_Excuse me_?"

Cartman froze on the spot. Jenny had unnoticeably walked up behind him, a tiny scowl on her face. But he kept his cool by twirling around, with the complementary of fixing his bowtie and offering a winning smile. However, there was a shocking turn of events that Cartman hadn't been prepared for. Jenny arrived, dressed in her usual attire. There were no bare legs or arms to show, and her cute ribbon was replaced with an old purple headband. The boy swept his grin away and it formed into an ugly grimace, then wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"… What the hell happened to you?" he demanded in his grimy voice.

Jenny became confused. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I thought of dressing comfortably tonight, that's all… don't you like it?"

Cartman came too close for comfort and started examining her. A moment later he was backing away from her, gagging.

"Oh, so now you've decided to dress like a little miss-goody-two-shoes again?" he taunted. His date opened her mouth to give a reply, but Cartman raised a hand, commanding her to stay silent. He fished out his cell and began to dial a number. "_M'eam_? Hey, look. I've changed my mind. I want to come home… Jenny looks like she crawled out of Stuart McCormick's meth lab."

Jenny covered her mouth in disbelief. How could he say such awful things about her? Just earlier today he was very nice and affectionate towards her, and now he had turned outright nasty…

_Oh my God,_ she thought in regret. _Kyle was right! He was…_ Jenny lowered her head, taking back everything she said. _… Oh, Kyle…!_

"… Okay, kewl. I'll see you in a little bit."

Jenny stood her ground and furiously wiped her fresh tears away with her wrist.

"Kyle was right about you. I was such a fool not to believe him… I thought about giving you another chance, that we could start over and put the past behind us, Cartman… but now I know the truth. All you cared about was my physical beauty!"

Cartman gave her a sneer so foul that it frightened her.

"Cry...," he muttered. He glared at her viciously, making Jenny turn and shut her watery eyes. "That's it, cry like the_ meek little bitch_ that you are!"

"That's _enough_!"

Cartman and Jenny turned to the owner of the new voice. The both of them looked into the stern eyes of Kyle Broflovski, who was not only dressed for a dinner date, but was fiery hair was exposed for his rival to laugh at. He stepped between them and faced Cartman. Jenny peered over Kyle's shoulder, gripping his arm lightly.

"Leave her alone," he growled.

"Or what?" Cartman smirked. "The twerpy little Jew is gonna kick my ass?"

"Oh, believe me, I'd try," said Kyle, "but I'm afraid if I kick your fat ass too hard, my foot may stay stuck in its squishiness forever. I don't want to take that risk." He bared a hand into a fist. "But I could always arrange a bloody nose and an ambulance for you, if you'd like."

"Please," Cartman groaned, "It's not like you could thwack me that hard. Besides, everyone knows that you hit like a girl—"

He ran straight home to his mother after the proclaimed twerpy little Jew deliberately pummeled his nose in.

Jenny buried her face into Kyle's chest as soon as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You okay?" he asked gently, and began to stroke her black locks.

When he felt her nod against him, he bent down and kissed her hair. "Good."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, her tears spoiling his jacket. "I… I should have known better, Kyle. You warned me and I didn't listen—you're right, I _am_ stupid."

Kyle wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"Jenny. Look at me."

She didn't hesitate to and relaxed at his touch when she felt his fingers rub her damp skin. Kyle then moved his arms to her shoulders, looking firm, but his eyes remained gentle. His frown turned upside down, and there was one of his trademarked happy grins that he gave her seven days a week. Jenny gazed at his fro, leaving her eyes in wonder and curiosity. Kyle was ten times better without his ushanka—she thought he was cute at first, but whenever he revealed his giant red hair to her, Jenny thought he was absolutely adorable. She thought why he hated his hair… it only added a lot more to his appeal.

"You aren't stupid," he whispered. "It was wrong of me to call you that name—sometimes we make stupid decisions, yeah, but you are definitely_ not_ stupid."

He cupped her hands together and smiled down at them.

"I'm… I'm sorry for making you cry earlier. You have every right to think those things," he replied. "… But the reason why I was avoiding you in the first place was because I felt that I would interfere with your happiness; I didn't know you were uncomfortable with all of that unwanted attention."

Jenny sniffled.

"But why didn't you tell me earlier?" she asked.

"You hid away from me in the bathroom," said Kyle, chuckling. "I thought I'd give you some space." He held her hands tighter. "But you should have come to me if you were feeling anxious around those guys. I would have listened what you had to say…" He blushed a shade of pink when he added, "… and I would've done my best to protect you from them, too.

"I admit… I was pretty jealous when I saw Clyde and Cartman pursuing you. But I felt a fury through me when I heard inappropriate words that they said to you. To be honest, Jenny, you _did_ catch my attention. I could hardly keep my eyes off of you this morning. I thought of waiting until the end of the day to talk with you, but then we ended up getting into that argument…"

He sighed and hung his head. "I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I did to you. I just didn't want to see you get hurt, because you're one of my best friends, and I… really like you."

Jenny stared at him speechlessly.

"No, really," said Kyle. His voice was strain.

"You've been on my mind lately. I can't stop thinking about you. Ever since the sleepover, I've been meaning to tell you how I truly feel. But I didn't know which words to pick… until now. You worry too much about your flaws, for one thing. Everyone has their different strengths and weaknesses. So you're no Wendy or Bebe. But you know what? You're Jenny Simon, and you're better than those two combined! Your character is who you are. You're kind and genuine. You rock at the Wii U while I suck at it. You're always willing to help your mother manage her shop on the weekends when she needs you… I could never have the patience to do that… and you're gorgeous. On the inside and out. Your outfit was beautiful, and I wouldn't mind if you happened to wear it again. Only if it makes you feel comfortable."

He almost reluctantly let go of her hands and backed away. "And if you don't want to, that's totally fine. We don't have to jump immediately into a relationship if you're not ready for one. I just needed to get my feelings out there." He blushed a deep crimson and looked down momentarily.

When Kyle heard no response, he looked to find Jenny not gazing at him in awe or disgust—but she was smiling. Smiling. Happy tears flowed down her cheeks as she went to him. A brief shudder escaped her lips before she tackled him into a long, loving embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder, leading Kyle to wrap his arms around her. He smiled into her hair as she played with his fluffy red curls, giggling in a never-ending glee.

"Kyle, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that."

"I'm guessing you like-liked me this whole time too, huh?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Jenny curled her hands together against his chest, looking almost bashful.

"More than I could ever put into words."

They stared at each for what it seemed like hours.

"Jenny…"

"Kyle?"

His gaze fell to her lips.

"May I kiss you?"

Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe it. Kyle Broflovski, the boy of her dreams, wanted to kiss her, of all people? She felt as though she were on cloud nine.

Jenny smiled shyly and started to rise on her tippy-toes, letting him in on her answer. Kyle lifted her from the ground. He bent his head forward and captured her lips in his in a light, chaste kiss. Jenny squealed from enjoyment and kissed him back. It started to calm her nerves… until she ripped away from him and whirled away, vomiting on the sidewalk for a full ten seconds. Costumers who were sitting outside of the restaurant looked at the children in horror.

Kyle watched with a wide-eyed expression as Jenny embarrassingly wiped her mouth, blushing pink. He took her by the hand and led her down the walkway. Jenny looked miserable, holding her queasy stomach.

"Uh… I'm thinking Sizzler."

"Good plan."


End file.
